Where are the buildings located? What is the relationship between them and the surrounding area? The project is located in Parkdale, which is one of Toronto’s most notable historic neighbourhood.

The massing emerges as a contemporary response to its context, using an abstraction of the pervasive Bay and Gable typology the project becomes a reinterpretation of key architectural elements. These elements include the large bay massing that usually covered over half of the front elevation, the steep roofs and sharp vertical lines, the front balcony, high ceilings with large windows which allowed light to reach the depths of the narrow floor plates, and elaborately decorated ornamentation. The projects geometry registers datum’s of adjacent neighbours window and door opening heights, roof slopes and eave heights, and material transitions on either side producing specific formal relationships.

In what state was the building when this renovation project was entrusted to you? The existing single family house was in a state of extreme disrepair. How did you approach this project? The project was a new build and did not include any preservation.

What is the relationship of this project with craft on one hand and technology on the other? By leveraging digital fabrication techniques and use of new material technologies for perceptual, spatial and formal effect we translate the notion of 19th century craft by way of a two story brise soleil. The brise soleil encloses the front and rear balconies, allowing for controlled lighting conditions and privacy. Constructed of a bio-enhanced, rot resistant and sustainable softwood the individual pieces are organized to create a large scale dynamic facade.

What are the design key points of the project? The key points would be context through massing and craft, spatial organization of units to maximize light and social interaction and, having the project creating and foster an activated urban environment.

How is the internal space organized? How many units for each residence? Each residence consists of a two storey lower unit and a two story upper unit. The lower unit is carved out in the front and back with double height volumes that flow out to sunken courtyards maximizing the amount of natural daylight entering the unit and transgressing the basement apartment stereotype. The upper unit is organized around a double height atrium space which brings natural light and ventilation into the center of the unit.

What about the exteriors? Two exterior courtyards punctuate either end of the floor plate behind the wooden brise soleil, to the front a double height balcony overlooks the street and to the rear provides for a master bedroom terrace.

The façades on the street are very interesting, how did you differentiate them from the ornate historical context? The two story brise soleil construction is angled in such a way as to catch the light differently at different times of the day and season revealing multiple images to people passing by. The screen proposes a variation of animal figures that evokes loose, variable associations while still remaining in the realm of affect, giving viewers a free-association. The patterns across the surface and varied interrelationships of depth, angle and shadow from one member to the next reinforce the abstractions they define in one moment and cloud it the next. Somewhat akin to the idea of cloud animals that we have all as children lost ourselves to in daydreaming. For artists and poets of the Romantic period, clouds provided a metaphor for mobility and transcendence. Clouds are as much a source of perception and transient states of mind as they are a meteorological phenomena. They mysteriously combine visibility and volume without space.

What materials and colours did you use? Brightly painted murals by a local artist wrap the interior walls of the lower level courtyards and upper lever lightwell. The brick used matches that of the historic neighborhood. The brise soleil is made of thermally treated wood that will age silver over time. Black metal panel is use to clad the roof along with side and back elevations.